I'm starting to find that the world of pedigreed coins, along with the science of researching auctions and sales, is starting to become my niche in the hobby. I thought of buying pedigreed coins and then doing a comprehensive sales report on that coin. What is the best way to buy coins with pedigreed without paying for the ridiculous prices? I'm aware that names such as Col. Green, Eliasburg and Pogue with really have an affect on price. How do I find cheaper examples to start out with?
Spend your time now learning vs buying. Nothing I bought at your age was even remotely worth what I paid. Experience differs, of course, and you may fare better than I did, but almost every collector who didn’t have extensive access and guidance wasted their money when they started out collecting.
Sound advice. I wouldn’t pay extra for a label, sticker or name. It’s all about the coin itself. Think about your girlfriend. Would you marry her because of her first name or because of the dress she wears? I hope not.
Lol, if I applied how I purchase coins to how I chased women, I’d either be broke or single (or both).
Although I have none I am always amazed at the coins once owned by Col. Green. I have a book about his estate on Round Hill near New Bedford, MA.
I collected guitars at one point. Still have a few. To me the aura of having a bass played by Wyzard or Gary Thain hanging on the wall was really cool. I discovered pretty quickly that this generation doesn’t know and could care less who Wyzard or Gary Thain is. Thus the value of those instruments became tied only to the intrinsic value of the guitar itself. Now I would rather like to have a coin owned by Buddy Ebson. But after being burned a few times on guitars played by elder rock statesmen, I sure won’t pay a premium for one if I run across it.
At the last coin show I went to, I purchased a coin pedigreed to the 4th duke of Northumberland. There are auction records and it is published in a book, but the book would almost cost more than I paid for the coin!
Collecting pedigreed coins can be interesting, but agree with some of the other comments, you need to learn and study to determine who are the big players, what are the important sales, etc. You may want to collect the auction catalog or sale list along with the coin, but a lot of the literature can be scarce and costly (as a side note; subscribe to e-syslum sent out by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. It’s free and filled with an incredible amount of information). Another way to collect pedigreed coins is to buy ones that come with the old dealer’s or collectors envelope. Then research that person or dealer. Doing the research may open a whole new world of collecting
He'll have to speak for himself, but I'd assume that with "Ack" he's showing displeasure with your idea. In other words, saying it's not a good idea to do that. That said, I understand what you're saying CoinBlazer. But I understand what he's saying too. I've paid more for various coins for various reasons, including because they were previously owned by a certain individual - even when there was not a recognized pedigree. And by the same token there have been many cases where others have purchased coins, coin books, and even some other items, simply because they used to belong to me. So as I said, I understand because I've been on both sides of that coin if you will. But does that make it good or bad ? No, not at all in my opinion. Ya see, just about everybody has their own reasons when it comes to what they will pay for any given item. And only they can decide if that's a good or bad thing because it's their money their spending. Are others going to feel differently ? Of course they are because they have different philosophies, different opinions, different everything. That's what makes the world go round - people being different from everybody else. And then there are those who want to be like everybody else. I explain things like pedigrees and provenances, or a shipwreck coin, and even the history of a given coin like it's special because of who minted it, or who is depicted upon it, or why it was minted to begin with - all of those things, I call that the "cool factor". And sometimes the cool factor is reason enough to pay more. But the cool factor is one of those chocolate and vanilla things - it depends on who ya ask as to what's cool and what's not. And there's a lot of that with coins. For example, you couldn't give me errors or varieties for free - because I don't want 'em, never have. But other people, they'll fall all over themselves trying to get one. I used to love hammered gold, other people could care less. Some folks only collect ancients, some only US, some only world, and some collect everything !! My way of thinking is simple - if it rings your bell, go with it ! Buy what ya like - same thing. But don't ever buy anything ya don't like ! How do you find less expensive examples ? Same way ya find anything - you spend a lot of time looking. But while you're looking, you have to already know what it is you're looking at so you recognize it when you see it. And how do ya do that ? By reading, studying, buying books, - by learning in other words. With coins it always comes down to learning - knowledge. That's just the way it is. There's people out there who own coins but they have no idea of the history of those coins. Or it may be special, might even be 1 or 2 of a kind - but they don't know it, have no idea of it. And all because they lack that knowledge. So keep going like ya have been, you ask good questions. And good questions lead to knowledge. Buy coins ya like, walk away from the ones ya don't like. Do that and it's pretty hard to go wrong